1981-My Gay American Road Trip

<p>1981. Rich with promise and possibility the post-Stonewall era saw queer Americans standing up for themselves and each other like never before. With the rise of gay newspapers bars clubs and businesses in cities all over the US it was a time of hedonism activism pride and community. A scene ripe for exploration and documentation and journalist JD Doyle hit the road to do just that traveling through 27 states to create a playful intimate profusely illustrated one-of-a-kind record of gay life love lust and liberation in the heady days before the devastating crisis that would change everything. </p><p><br></p><p>This is the trip he took.</p><p><br></p><p>A remarkable journey through gay male life in the early 1980s...gay bars restaurants sports associations (who knew Houston had 55 gay bowling teams in 1981?) strip clubs and easy hookups just before AIDS cast a shadow over everything. Doyle takes us beyond the coasts to highlight the vibrant gay scenes in large cities and small towns across the South and West. From close encounters with Grace Jones and Diana Ross to even closer encounters with the men he met along the way this book is full of insights and vivid sketches of people and places. </p><p><strong>George Chauncey </strong></p><p>DeWitt Clinton Professor of History Columbia University </p><p>Author of GAY NEW YORK: GENDER URBAN CULTURE AND THE MAKING OF THE GAY MALE WORLD 1890-1940</p>